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I’m going to open May with a little history lesson, because memories are short. Remember when Fox News was the first outlet to call Arizona for Joe Biden on Election Night? Network execs were furious, fearful it would cost them loyal Trump viewers. It took others hours or days to give Arizona to Biden. Well it turned out Fox’s early call was correct: Biden went on to win the state by 10,000 votes. But it wasn’t until all the ballots were counted that we knew for sure. And overseas ballots made the difference. Overseas ballots – when you hear that, you think of the military, right? Well, if you vote from Portugal, you’re casting an overseas vote. So when you hear someone say their vote doesn’t make a difference, tell them they are wrong. And if you vote in a swing state, your ballot could decide the outcome. And now for the civics lesson. We are not just voting for the president - there are literally hundreds of elections happening in 2024, from Congress down to school board member and sheriff. Keep this in mind when you hear someone say they vote in a blue state - so it doesn’t really matter. It all matters. School boards across the country are banning books. Sheriffs are arresting people in small towns without cause. You need to vote, and you need to vote up and down the ballot. There are some 10,000 U.S. citizens living in Portugal, and almost 2,000 of them have joined Democrats Abroad. That includes you. And while not all of those 10,000 are Democrats, we’re pretty sure most of them are – which means we’re leaving a lot of votes on the table. About 25% of overseas citizens cast ballots. If you do the math, that means only 500 of you will vote this November. We need to do much better than that if we hope to re-elect Biden - decisively - and keep Trump and his goons nowhere near the nuclear codes. One of our primary efforts is GOTV -- Get Out The Vote. We do that by calling, emailing and writing all our members, encouraging them to register and request a ballot. That ballot isn’t automatically delivered - as an overseas voter you need to request it every year. Furthermore - because of European Union privacy laws, we can’t just call or write anyone – only those who are members, and only those members who have opted in to receive our messages. Which means we need to expand our membership! Encourage your friends to join Democrats Abroad. There’s no fee, and it takes just a few minutes to sign up. Encourage them to request a ballot and vote. And volunteer your time to work the phones and encourage others to vote. You won’t just be talking to other Americans in Portugal – the DA phone bank is a worldwide effort. One minute you’re talking to someone in Taiwan, the next in Tangiers. Drop me a line, let me know your thoughts and questions. And keep reading to see what events we have planned and how you can get involved.
Please celebrate 60 years of Democrats Abroad on-line or in person in Costa Rica. Come experience Democracy in action and help us elect our DA delegates who will represent us at the convention in Chicago.
If you do nothing else, please request your 2024 ballot by going to Votefromabroad.org. If you request via the FPCA option, your ballot has greater protections under federal law, and while the method of ballot return differs depending on your state, you will receive it via email, at least 45 days in advance of any election. If you have trouble, please reach out to me. And make sure your friends and family request their ballots as well.
Every month I invite you to volunteer, and outline some special needs. We have completed our stage 1 (phonebanking) and stage 2 (postcarding) for our Get Our The Vote efforts. We are now focussed on throwing regional meet-ups, voter registration, tabling and preparing for the last push this summer when we will make calls to democrats around the world, with special focus on the swing states and important down ballot elections. Prepare to join our phone-banking team by getting trained now. • We also need someone to lead our Events Program. If you are an organized person, or have project management skills, please consider joining our team and keeping us on track. These next few months are critical to our effort. • We need someone who can lead our LGBTQ outreach. The queer community is enormous in Portugal and growing - we are hoping to tap this amazing energy. • We need a lead organizer for the Millennial community - also a growing demographic. We are on the verge of launching a focussed outreach strategy and could use some leaders.
Please like and follow our social media channels. We do not do Twitter any more :). Standing for Democracy, Sally DeSipio Chair, DAPT |
